Commercial Beekeeping Sources

This fascinating documentary explores the perfectly constructed, architecturally complex structure that has remained virtually unchanged for all of known time, the beehive. With the help of a high definition camera, viewers get up-close and personal with these industrious insects. Dr. Mark Winston of Simon Fraser University is attempting to solve the mystery of bee communication and behaviour by studying the effects of the Queen’s pheromones on other bees in the hive. Since bees pollinate approximately 1/3 of all human food supplies and nearly 80% of the world’s plants, their rapidly declining populations are of great concern.

For 100 million years, bees have provided sustainability on earth… yet now they are rapidly disappearing from our planet. "Bee People" provides an in-depth look at the people who are working to save the bees and urging everyone to join them. Who are these bee people? What compels them to do what they do? And most importantly, what is the solution they propose? Featuring Gregg McMahan aka “The Bee Guru”. Join him as he follows his passion of rescuing and relocating beehives, and educating America's youth.

From the forests of Mexico to the farm lands and cities of North America, learn how successful beekeepers overcome challenges and develop sustainable practices to improve the quality and quantity of honey bee populations.

Honeybees are in danger—with dire consequences for plants, flowers…and honey. Honey has a thousand virtues. Its benefits have been known since the dawn of time and are still explored by scientists today. It may even be an effective alternative to antibiotics. But honey production has dropped due to disease and pesticides, though demand remains high. Some countries must now import it from often unreliable sources. So is the future all bad for bees and their blessings? Not on the rooftops of Paris, where apiaries bloom, built by artisans in search of a truly organic product. This documentary forage into this sweet and valuable commodity.

Honeybees are essential for the production of more than one-third of the food we eat. But in 2006, beekeepers began reporting that astounding numbers of their honeybees had gone missing, literally disappearing, with no dead bees to be found in or around the hives. A task force was formed to study the international phenomenon; scientists were able to identify its distinct symptoms, and named it “colony collapse disorder.” This program investigates colony collapse disorder, looking into its possible causes, exploring its potential consequences, and offering some solutions. Journalist Michael Pollan, apiarists, and others discuss the search for CCD’s origin, focusing on evidence that points to monoculture farming and a relatively new class of chemicals called systemic pesticides as the culprits. A viewable/printable instructor’s guide is available online.

Bill Turnbull investigates one of the biggest mysteries in the countryside: what is killing the bees? It is a question that generates huge controversy. Changes in the weather, pesticides and even a deadly virus have all been blamed. It is a problem that Turnbull is all too familiar with as a beekeeper himself. He meets the scientists who are fitting minute radar transponders on to bees to try to find answers. A BBC Production.